


Confessions

by OnTheFritz



Category: Cats (1998), Cats - Andrew Lloyd Webber, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - T. S. Eliot
Genre: Confessions, F/F, F/M, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Pounce goes looking for advice in all the wrong places, Unrequited Love, neither of them have a clue what love really is, neither of them really know, now with jellydots, or whatever these two are to each other, somewhat happy ending though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:27:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29572479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnTheFritz/pseuds/OnTheFritz
Summary: Pounce's got a confession to make to his friend. Tumble just wants to take a nap. Small moments between one of my favorite pairs of eye patch toms as they come to realizations about their relationship with one another.Don't really have a plot for this one, just going to keep adding to it as ideas come to mind.Note: Unlike my other stories these two are NOT related. They are friends.
Relationships: Jellylorum/Jennyanydots (Cats), Plato/Victoria (Cats), Pouncival/Tumblebrutus (Cats)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 24





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Got this idea from a couple of friends online, feel free to drop a note if you know who you are!
> 
> Note: Unlike my other stories these two are NOT related. They are friends.

“Hey, Tumble.”

“What, Pounce?”

“You ever think about stuff?”

“You’re gonna have to be more specific.”

“Like, do you ever think about… liking stuff?”

Tumblebrutus sighed and opened an eye to stare at Pouncival, still trying to hold on to the fleeting hope that he could finish his nap in the near future. “Like what kind of stuff?”

“I dunno. Like… colors.” The tabby tom gestured vaguely into the air.

“Do I ever think about liking colors?” 

“Yeah.”

“Do you mean like a favorite color?” 

“Kind of.” Pounce shrugged and glanced over at him.

“Did you just wake me up to tell me what your favorite color is?”

“No.”

Silence. Tumble closed his eye. If he tried he might be able to go back to sleep-

“But if you’re wondering it’s brown.”

Tumble sighed again. Looks like this was going to be one of those conversations. Sometimes Pounce got something in his brain and just wouldn’t let it go until the subject was beaten to death, and most of the time it was Tumble who ended up feeling like he had been the subject of the beating.

“Pounce, did you hit your head today?” Tumble asked, already regretting the turn this conversation was taking.

“Shut up, I’m trying to think about this.” Pounce grumbled. “’s hard to put it right.”

“Don’t hurt yourself.” The insult was ignored.

“Okay, so, how do you know if you like something more than just the regular amount?” Pounce finally asked.

“Huh?”

“Listen, it’s a real question. How do you know-”

“No, I heard you. Just gimme a minute.” Tumble gave up on trying to nap and rolled onto his back to properly stare at his friend. “Do you mean like love?”

“Uh, dunno.” Pounce stared intensely at the dirt.

“Are you wondering about how you know if you love something?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Well, I guess you just know.” Tumble shrugged.

“That’s a stupid answer, you’re not even trying.”

“Why are you asking me about this?”

“Dunno.” Pounce grabbed the end of his tail and started to fiddle with it. “Just… thinking about things. Aren’t I allowed to do that?”

“Yeah, but when you say it like that it makes me suspicious.”

“Just forget it.”

Tumble looked at his friend, noting the uncomfortable hunch of his shoulders and the fur he was nervously pulling out of his tail. It was only a matter of time before he gave himself a bald spot.

“Hey, don’t do that.” He took Pounce’s paws in his own. “Let me think of an answer.”

“Yeah, sure.” Pounce wiggled out of his grasp, drawing his knees up to his chest to rest his chin on top. 

“Okay. I guess… you might not know for sure that you love something, but you know you like it a lot?” Tumble did his best to put the idea into words. “And then maybe after a bit of time you realize that you like it more than just the normal amount, like it’s really special.”

“What about a person?” Pounce’s question was mumbled into his knees.

“A person?”

“Yeah.”

“I guess… I guess you know you love somebody ‘cause you feel different about them than you would somebody else. Like they’re really, really special to you.” 

“Huh. Like, you thought you were friends but then you might be something else?”

“Maybe.” Tumble glanced over at him. “Why, you think you might like somebody like that?”

“No.” The word came out a little too fast for it to be true. “I just… noticed some things.”

“Like what?”

“Like nunya.”

“Nunya?”

“Nunya business.” Pounce hid his face in his knees, drawing his tail tightly around himself in a very worrying fashion.

Well there went that mood. Tumble sat up, purposefully nudging Pounce until he fell out of his huddled pose. It was rare for the tabby tom to get into such a subdued state but it always meant that there was something big going on, which then usually meant that Tumble had to figure out what it was and bring him out of it. Hopefully whatever it was wouldn’t get them both in trouble.

“Look, can I tell you a secret?”

“What?” Pounce asked, suddenly looking apprehensive.

“It’s nothing bad. Just… don’t tell anybody.” Tumble sidled up to him. “And stop looking like the world is coming to an end. It’s not that big a deal.”

“What is it?” Pounce leaned into him.

“I like Jemima.” Tumble admitted. “I might try to… well, I might ask her to be with me at the Jellicle Ball.”

Instantly Pounce’s face screwed up in pure confusion. “What?”

“Yeah.”

“But I- I didn’t- when?” Pounce pushed away from his side. “When did this happen?”

“I dunno, we’ve just been hanging around her a lot and I like her.” Tumble shrugged. “I’m not saying I love her, but, you know, there might be something there. Now that you’ve got me talking about all this stuff I have a lot to think about.”

Instead of his words having the intended effect it was clear that Pounce was not taking the news well. The cat had once again grabbed his own tail and was furiously pulling at the fur, eyes firmly fixed on the dirt between them. If Tumble didn’t know better he could have sworn that Pounce was about to cry.

Now things had really taken a turn for the worse. Tumble wasn’t sure how to pull them out of the strangely negative mood his friend was in, so he went for the tried and true method of distraction. If he couldn’t wrestle a confession out of Pounce then he would be out of ideas.

“Okay, what are you hiding?” Tumble asked, inching closer to the sullen cat.

“What?”

“You know what I mean, Pounce, you’re hiding something, and since you’re asking me if I know how to love stuff I can only assume that you’ve got something you want to get off your chest.”

“I’m not, Tumble, I swear- argh!” Pounce’s protest was smothered by Tumble lunging at him. “Get off you brute, there’s nothing!”

They were fairly evenly matched but Tumble swiftly gained the advantage, using his weight to flip Pounce onto his front and settle on top of him. To keep Pounce from struggling he wrapped his arms around him and squeezed him tightly to his chest. Immediately Pounce went unnaturally still beneath him, quietly panting into the dirt. 

“Pounce?” Tumble asked as he bent further over Pounce’s back to try and see his face. “You okay?”

Pounce let out a little whine and shook his head, tightly wrapping his tail around himself as he tried to curl up into a ball, only managing to whine again and press his back up into Tumble’s front. Tumble could feel him trembling.

“Hang on, let me get off you.” Tumble rolled off of him and crouched down next to his face, immediately alarmed when Pounce turned his face away. “Hey, I didn’t mean to hurt you. Where does it hurt?”

“Doesn’t hurt.” Pounce ground out through gritted teeth. Despite the laws of physics he was desperately trying to curl further in on himself. The tense muscles in his back were visible through his fur.

“Yeah, right, I can literally see how distressed you are.” Tumble tried to soothingly rub his back but was met with an unexpected swipe of Pounce’s claws.

“Don’t!” Pounce hissed. “Just don’t!”

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I just- I just don’t- I- I don’t know, just leave me alone.” Pounce tried to leave but was stopped, instead sitting back down in the dirt and hiding his face in his paws.

“Wait, is this about me liking Jemima?” Tumble crouched down in front of him to try and see his face again.

“No.” Pounce mumbled.

“It is, isn’t it.” Tumble shook his head. “Don’t tell me you like her too?”

“No.”

“You do, don’t you? And now you’re mad because I said it first.”

“No, Tumble, I’m not, you need to shut up-”

“Well why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tumble, I mean it, just drop it-”

“You’ve never expressed any interest in her. You’re always talking about Bomba but I thought that was just you being dramatic all the time, when did you start liking Jemima?”

“I don’t like Jemima!” Pounce shouted, dropping his paws so he could look Tumble dead in the eyes. “Stop saying I do! Stop saying you do!”

“Well then who do-”

“You, Tumble, I like you! I might even love you but I don’t know what that even means!”

Tumble froze, mind temporarily blank as the words sank into his mind.

“I think I love you.” Pounce muttered, dropping his gaze and pawing at the dirt. “But I dunno what that means.”

“Okay.” Was all Tumble could say.

“Okay? That’s it?”

“Well, what am I supposed to do?”

“Dunno.”

“Okay then.”

“Okay.”

The two of them stared at each other for a long time, neither knowing what else to say yet both of them knowing that they wouldn’t be able to drop the issue.

“Can you… can you tell me a little more?” Tumble finally asked.

“Little more what?”

“Why you think you might… might feel that way?”

“Oh.” Pounce’s face started to turn red under his fur. “I just… I like being around you more than anybody else. And I think… I think you’re really special, Tumble.”

Tumble felt his own face start to turn red. “Oh.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t… I won’t get in your way though. If you really like Jemima.” The words were sad, and the look on Pounce’s face even more so.

“Well hang on, you need to give me more time to think about this. This is all new for me. And for you, unless you’ve been dwelling on this a while.”

Pounce shrugged, looking everywhere but at him.

“You have, haven’t you?” Tumble sighed.

“Maybe.”

“Okay. How about this.” Tumble sat down next to Pounce, touching their shoulders together. “I don’t know if I feel about you like that. You’re my best friend but this… this is all a lot to take in.”

“Uh huh.” Pounce started to curl up on himself again, but Tumble stopped him.

“Hang on. I didn’t say I wasn’t opposed to the idea.”

“What about Jemima?”

“Well, I do still like her. But I also like you.” Tumble said. “Let’s… let’s try not to be weird-”

“Weirder than we already are.”

“-yeah, shut up.” Tumble laughed. “Let’s try not to be weirder than we already are, and… and let’s see what happens, okay? It’s the best I can do.”

Pounce mulled the words over for a while. At least he left his poor tail alone this time as he thought. Finally he nodded, leaning up against Tumble’s side with a small sigh.

“I’d like that.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I meant to write the next chapter of Catalyst but ended up writing this instead.

A full twenty four hours had passed since Pouncival had confessed to Tumblebrutus that he had loved him and things were not going well. The vibe between them had stayed the same as before, nothing in the world had changed, but as soon as Tumble went home Pounce was immediately overcome with the urge to scream. Whether it was out of joy or angst, he wasn’t sure, but it had left him with a nervous energy that made him unbearably restless.

Tumble was out of the junkyard on a trip with Skimble and wouldn’t be back for a couple of days, leaving Pounce to his own devices. Devices that Pounce wasn’t even sure of what to do with before he made the big confession, let alone what to do with them after. He needed to talk to someone if only to keep from pulling out his fur and making himself bald. 

Thankfully there was one tom around that he could trust not to go blabbing about his poorly kept secrets.

“Hey, Plato, you got a minute?” Pounce found said tom lounging on a ratty armchair with his eyes trained towards the sky.

“Sure.” Plato turned his attention away from watching the clouds drifting across the sky to look at him. “What’s on your mind?”

“How’d you know that you liked Victoria?”

“Oh, uh, I’m not really sure.” Plato thoughtfully gazed back up at the clouds. “I’ve always liked her, but I guess when I first saw her dancing was when I knew I really liked her. I’d never seen anyone dance like her before.”

“Huh.” Pounce scratched an ear. “When’d you tell her you liked her?”

“I… to be honest, I don’t think I ever told her. Not in so many words.”

“And she still knew?”

“I guess she did.” The tom laughed nervously. “Probably because I wasn’t exactly that subtle about it. It’s so hard not to stare at her though.”

“Huh.”

“Why do you ask?” Plato once again looked at him with his unnervingly piercing gaze. 

“Dunno. Just wondering.” Pounce avoided his gaze, knowing that the longer Plato looked him the weaker his resolve would be.

“Plato!” Pounce’s rescue came in the form of Etcetera, who bounded up to them in her usual excitable way. “I found one!” Proudly she displayed a pink ribbon clasped in her paws.

“Thanks, Cettie, it looks great.” Plato jumped down from the armchair and carefully took it from her. “Vicki’ll love it.”

“I think it’s so sweet that you two exchange gifts with each other.” Etcetera sighed. “I wish I had someone like that in my life.”

Pounce quietly tried to make his escape before Etcetera noticed him. If she caught on that he was asking around about love and all that mushy stuff there would be no end to it. At least he could trust Tumble not to tell anyone about his jumbled up feelings for him, but if Etcetera figured it out then the whole junkyard would know in an hour. 

As soon as he moved Etcetera’s attention snapped to him. It took all he had not to run away since doing so would make him look even more guilty.

“Pounce! I haven’t seen you lately, where have you been?” She asked, immediately jumping on him and giving him a hug. 

Truthfully Pounce had spent the majority of the past couple of days perched at the highest point of the junkyard he could find, spending an unprecedented amount of time by himself wondering just how he felt about Tumble. Somehow he did his best thinking while up high, looking down on the world from above, but even spending hours at heights that would give Munkustrap a heart attack wasn’t enough to help him figure things out. 

After confessing to Tumble he had returned to his perch, this time his mind even more of a mess, until he had spied Plato and decided to heckle him instead. Now he was wishing he had just kept to himself. Too late now.

“Around.” Was all Pounce said, wiggling out of Etcetera’s grasp.

“Hey, Cettie, maybe you can help us out.” Plato said. “When did you first start liking Tugger?”

“Ooo, I’ve loved him since the day I first saw him.” Etcetera sighed and swooned into Pounce’s unwilling arms. “How could you not? He’s just so handsome and wonderful and talented, not to mention gorgeous.”

“He certainly knows how to make an entrance.” Plato said wistfully.

“Yeah, sure.” Pounce gave up trying to get away from Etcetera and rested his chin on top of her head. “But how did you know?”

“What do you mean?” Etcetera twitched her ears against his cheeks and made herself comfortable. “You just know. How could you not love Tugger?”

“Yeah, I mean, he’s cool and all, but I wouldn’t wanna mate with him.”

“Good, because I don’t want to have to fight you for him.” She twisted a little to look up at him. “Why do you ask?”

“No reason.” Pounce said as quickly as he could, shooting a warning look at Plato, who wisely kept his mouth shut.

“You’re acting strange.”

“No I’m not.”

“Yes you are. You’ve been gone for while and now you’re all serious and stuff. And you’re asking about… wait a minute. Wait a minute!” Her eyes widened. “You-”

“No.”

“You like-”

“No!”

“You like somebody, I know it!”

“No I do not!” A traitorous blush started to spread across his cheeks. Quickly he dumped Etcetera on the ground and threw himself face first into the dirt to hide the fact that he, Pouncival, was blushing.

“You do!” Etcetera excitedly bounced up and down. “Oh, Pounce, this is perfect!”

“’s really not.” He mumbled.

“Yes it is! I’ve been dying to gossip about a new relationship in the tribe, there hasn’t been a new one for ages, everything is old news now.”

Plato coughed.

“Oh, sorry Plato, of course I’m happy for you and Victoria, but this is so exciting!” Etcetera pounced onto Pounce’s back. “You have to tell me who it is right now.”

“Mmph.” Pounce grunted, still face down in the dirt. “I don’t.”

“Please, please tell me. Is it- wait, no, don’t tell me, I want to guess.” 

“I’m not- I don’t- Cettie, get off, you weigh a million pounds-”

“Is it Jemima? You two would be so cute together.”

“I’m gonna kick you, I don’t care if you’re a queen.”

“Although I think Tumble might like her, so maybe… ooo, Plato, what do you think, maybe Electra?”

“I think you need to let Pounce breathe.” Plato, who was learning about diplomacy from Munkustrap, gently pulled the queen off of Pounce and set her on top of the armchair.

“I am not leaving until you tell me.” Etcetera declared from her new throne.

Pounce curled up into a defeated ball. It was the best he could do when faced with her unyielding enthusiasm.

“Look, if you like somebody, you don’t have to tell anyone. But if you have questions about it we can help you.” Plato crouched down next to him and patted his back. 

“Yeah, Pounce, it’s better if you tell somebody or you’re going to go crazy.” Etcetera added. “That’s what I told Vicki and look at her and Plato now.”

“That’s right- what?” Plato paused to give her a stunned look. “Wait, did she tell you she liked me?”

“Of course, she tells me everything.”

“Everything?”

“Plato, we can talk about you and Vicki later, we have more important things to discuss.” 

“Everlasting Cat, just kill me now.” Pounce threw his paws over his ears and shut his eyes. He didn’t have the willpower to keep secrets, even if they were about himself.

“Don’t be so dramatic.” Etcetera huffed.

“This coming from the most dramatic cat in the entire junkyard, no, the entire world.” Pounce retorted.

“I have strong feelings and want to express them, so sue me.” Etcetera joined Plato in crouching at his side. “But seriously, is it Electra?”

“No! I don’t like Electra!” Pounce shouted, sitting up and pushing them both away. “I mean, she’s nice, but no, that’s not who I like.”

“Is it… oh, Pounce.” Etcetera gasped, grabbing onto Plato’s arm for support. “It’s Bomba, isn’t it. You and Bomba are together?”

“What?” Both Plato and Pounce asked.

“You’ve always liked her, but I thought it was just because you thought she was attractive- I mean she is, look at her- but I never thought you were, like, actually in love with her.”

“It’s not Bomba.” Pounce sighed. “I think she’s hot, yeah, but I… I don’t even know what to think. ‘s stupid.”

“Love is not stupid.” Etcetera smacked him upside the head.

“Ow!”

“Love is fantastic and exciting and you should be happy to be having these feelings. It’s all part of being a mature adult and find a serious, loving, supportive relationship with someone who cares for you.” She sighed. “Isn’t it wonderful?”

“Please, I’m gonna throw up.”

“Don’t be silly.” 

“Look, Pounce, why don’t you tell us how you’re feeling and maybe we can help you figure some things out?” Plato suggested. “You don’t have to tell us who, but maybe explain what’s going on.”

“Does that work?” Pounce asked.

“Yeah, I talked with Skimble about me and Vicki and it helped me.”

“Huh.” Pounce absently fiddled with his tail. “I guess I could try it.”

“Yes!” Etcetera pushed Plato into a seated position and sprawled over his long legs to get comfortable. “Whenever you’re ready.”

“Uh.” Was all Pounce could say to start with.

“How long have you liked this cat?” Plato gently prompted.

“Um, for a while, I guess. I dunno. I’ve always liked… uh, them, but never really thought about it until now. And now I’m suddenly wondering if maybe… you know, maybe I like them more than that?” His face was turning red again, he could feel it. “And then I got to thinking that maybe they weren’t just a friend to me, I dunno, it’s weird.”

Why was this so hard? He had already told Tumble about his feelings for him but somehow saying it out loud to a third party was so much worse. Having both Etcetera and Plato looking at him only made him feel more awkward and kind of itchy about the whole subject.

“Definitely sounds like at the very least that you have a crush.” Etcetera said wisely. 

“And I know that I wanna be friends, but I also, I dunno, I also want to just be… with them all the time? And I can’t help it at all. It sucks when we’re not together. Like right now. I just… I miss them, I dunno, it’s dumb. ‘m fine.”

“Pounce.” Etcetera grabbed him by the shoulders. “It’s not dumb.”

“I dunno.”

“Do you feel this way about anyone else?” Plato asked.

“No. Just… just them. It’s only ever been them.” Pounce rested his head on Etcetera’s shoulder. “I feel really stupid.”

“Oh Pounce.” She pet the back of his head. “You’ll be okay.”

“Have you told this cat that you like them?” Plato asked. 

“Yeah.”

“You have?” Etcetera shrieked right in his ear. “What did they say? Pounce, what did they say?”

“Hold on, he doesn’t have to if he doesn’t want to.” Plato spoke up before Pounce could, gently pulling Etcetera back so Pounce could regain his hearing.

“Well, of course he doesn’t, but if you don’t tell me I will literally die.”

“Look, this doesn’t go anywhere, okay?” Pounce raised his head to give them both his best glare.

“Absolutely, my lips are sealed.” Etcetera mimed zipping her lips shut.

“I promise not to tell anybody.” Plato confirmed.

“Right.” Pounce took a deep breath. “I told them. And, uh, they weren’t mad about it.”

“That’s great!” Etcetera exclaimed.

“But they also don’t really… uh, they don’t really know what to do. I don’t think they like me back like that.”

“What’d they say?”

“They wanted to see how it would go.” Pounce wiped his nose on his arm, still staring at the ground. “Whatever that means.”

“At least it’s better than them saying they don’t like you back.” Plato suggested.

“Sure.”

“Pounce, listen to me.” Etcetera took his face between her paws. “You are an adorable, fun young tom. Whoever you woo would be lucky to have you.”

“Thanks.” Pounce said through smushed cheeks. “’m not adorable.”

“You are, but that works for you.” She insisted. “Now you just need to up the romance between you two and they’ll see how wonderful you can be.”

“But how?”

“Leave it to me. I need to think up a plan but don’t you worry, I’ve got your back.” Etcetera let go of his face and started to wander off. “I’ll let you know once I have it written out.”

“Wait, you can’t tell anyone!”

“I won’t, don’t worry!” She waved him off as she disappeared around the corner.

“Great, my life is over.” Pounce flopped down onto his back and stared up at the sky.

“Not necessarily.” Plato’s face came into view. “I think she really does want to help you out. It might be worth seeing what she’s got in mind.”

There was something odd about the way that Plato was looking at him that made Pounce take pause. Of course, Plato was the king of odd looks, since he spent most of his time quietly watching the world go by, but there was something particularly insightful about this look. The fact that he was patiently waiting for Pounce to speak did nothing to calm his nerves.

“You know who I’m talking about, don’t you?” Pounce sighed.

“I have an idea.” Plato admitted. “But I won’t say it if you’d rather I didn’t.”

“I don’t even know what I want anymore.”

“Can I make a suggestion?”

“Sure, why not.”

“Don’t think about it so hard. If you’ve already told him you like him that’s all you can do.”

“But what about these stupid feelings? I don’t want them. I just want to be normal.”

“Well, you are normal. I mean, as normal as you usually are.” Plato ruffled the fur between Pounce’s ears. “And you and Tumble are the same amount of weird, so it works.”

“I never said it was Tumble.”

“But it is, isn’t it?”

“… yeah.”

“Just… don’t worry about it as much. I think you and Tumble will be able to figure it out. I really do.”

“Thanks, Plato.”

“Anytime.” Plato smiled. “Now, you want to help me figure out how to give Vicki this ribbon without me just handing it to her?”

“Isn’t that how you normally give gifts?” Pounce looked at the ribbon that Etcetera had found.

“Well, I’d like to make it a little more special than that.”

“I guess.” Pounce dragged himself to his feet. Maybe having Etcetera involved wasn’t the end of the world. At the very least she would have some interesting advice to give him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still thinking about these two. Also now thinking about Jelly/Jenny thanks to some friends so this chapter will have some Jellydots going on.

Another day without Tumble. Pounce was getting sick of this. Getting sick of missing Tumble because of his dumb feelings. Feelings that he was increasingly getting sick and tired of, feelings that didn’t do anything but make him cranky and sad and excited and scared and crazy. 

He really missed Tumble. The tom had been gone for several days now. Several long, boring, lonely days. Of course Tumble had said when he’d come back but Pounce hadn’t been listening, been too occupied at the time with memorizing every detail of Tumble’s face so he could remember it while he was gone….

“Ugh.” Pounce rolled around in the dirt to clear his mind of such mushy thoughts. At this rate he was going to turn into one of those lovestruck queens from those romance novels Etcetera and Electra liked to pass around.

“Pouncival.” Jennyanydots’s voice interrupted his impromptu dirt bath. “What on earth are you doing?”

“Um.” Honestly he didn’t really know how to explain that he was trying to rub romance off of himself.

“Well, if you aren’t busy I could use your help.” She stared down at him with the usual amused exasperation.

“Sure.” Not like he had anything better to do.

“Come along.” She led him back to her den, giving him a thorough wipe down before she allowed him inside. 

Sullenly he let her do it mainly because it saved him from having to do it himself later, even if he was getting a little old to be treated like a kitten. Although in her eyes everyone was a kitten, including Munkustrap and perhaps Old Deuteronomy himself. Once he was presentable she steered him over to a cushion by the window and sat him down.

“Sit right here and hold your arms up.” Jenny said, pulling a basket of yarn towards him.

“Huh?”

“Like this.” Jenny maneuvered his arms until they were shoulder width apart with his elbows on his knees.

“Okay.”

“There you go.” As soon as he was arranged to her liking she draped a hank of yarn over his arms, effectively trapping him in place, and began to wind it into a ball.

“What are you- I don’t wanna be your yarn prisoner again!” Pounce complained.

“If you sit still I will give you once of the cookies I’ve made for Jelly.” 

It was a promise he could not pass up. Resignedly he slouched as much as he could without disturbing the yarn and watched the Gumbie Cat work.

“What’re you gonna do with all this yarn?” He eyed the large basket of unwound yarn at her side.

“I’m going to wind it up so it doesn’t get tangled and then make Jelly a sweater for her birthday.” Jenny gave him a stern look. “You will not tell her about this surprise.”

“No, I won’t, I promise.” The look in her eye spoke of untold punishments that he did not want to experience.

“Good. So.” Jenny said. “Anything you would like to discuss?”

“Huh?”

“There’s nothing to worry about, dear, I can tell that you have something on your mind. You’ve been very quiet today.”

Pounce fidgeted in his seat. The fact that him being quiet for a single day was enough to catch Jenny’s attention was vaguely disturbing. Did she keep an eye on him at all times? What about Jelly? Were they always watching him? Did they see him and Tumble together talking about mushy stuff? Did they know?

“Pounce?”

“Uh.” Pounce blinked. He had been staring at the yarn as if it were a cobra about to strike. “’m fine.”

“Hmm.” Jenny adjusted the yarn on his arms and continued to wind. “So Etcetera came in here yesterday.”

Something about the casual way she spoke made his words freeze in his throat. Instinct was telling him to run but his brain couldn’t figure out why. So far as he could tell they were just sitting and doing stuff with yarn, yet the fur on the back of his neck was slowly starting to rise.

“And she was very interested in how Jelly and I became a couple.”

“Okay?” Pounce squeaked out.

“Would you like to hear it?”

“Um.” Did he really have a choice? 

Jenny had a whole basket of yarn next to her and, despite his rapidly working brain, he couldn’t think of a good enough excuse to leave. Having Tumble gone from the junkyard left him without much of a purpose and feeling somewhat aimless, a fact that really did not sit right with him. Being lonely was the last thing he wanted to be because it implied that he was a slave to his feelings which he certainly was not, no sir, he was much too tough for that kind of mushy stuff-

“Pounce, dear, you need to blink, you’re going to hurt your eyes.”

Once again he was staring at the yarn. Jenny finished up with the current ball and started to drape another hank over his arms.

“Hey, where’s my cookie?” He whined.

“You can have one when Jelly comes home.”

“I’m gonna starve to death.”

“I know for a fact you had breakfast this morning, nice try.”

Sure, he had breakfast, but not much. Since Tumble wasn’t there to fight with for the best parts he didn’t have much interest in the food. There he went again, missing Tumble. It had only been a day or so and it was getting old, how was he going to deal with the tom being gone for longer?

“Um, Jenny?” Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to ask. If he phrased it in a certain way maybe she wouldn’t be able to tell that he was talking about himself. “Can I ask you something?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Do you… do you ever, uh, miss anybody?”

“Do I ever miss anybody?”

“Yeah.”

“Like those that have passed on?”

“No, like someone who’s alive.”

“I don’t understand. Are you asking me if I’m missing someone? Are they lost?”

“No!” Pounce sighed, just barely catching himself from throwing his arms up in the air in exasperation. “I haven’t lost him, I know where he is!”

“Where who is?” Jenny put down the yarn and gave him a scrutinizing look.

Well there went that pretense right out the window. Pounce’s only defense was to remain silent and hope that Jenny spontaneously forgot his question. Too bad Jenny’s mind was a steel trap and once she got a notion in her head woe betide any cat who tried to avoid it.

“Pounce, are you missing somebody?”

He shook his head.

“Would you like to talk to me about something?”

Again he shook his head.

“Or someone?”

She got him. To be honest he wasn’t really surprised, he never was one for subtlety. He settled for a shrug.

“Hmm.” Jenny resumed her yarn winding. “It’s a silly thing but I miss Jelly whenever she’s gone, even if she’s just out for the day.”

“Really?”

“Yes. It just doesn’t feel quite right not having her nearby.” Jenny absently stared out the window. “I’ve grown so used to having her by my side that it feels like a part of me is… well, to sound incredibly dramatic, it feels like something’s missing.”

“Wow.” Pounce scrunched up his nose, trying to ignore the fact that her words were striking a chord within himself. “That’s kinda a lot to feel.”

“It is. But it makes it so much more sweeter when she returns.”

“How… um, how do you deal with it?”

“Oh, it’s not something I necessarily feel I need to deal with, dear, it just is. But I know Jelly has her own business and I have mine, and we’ll see each other soon enough.” Jenny smiled. “And if we spent all of our time together then I’m afraid I’d drive her up the wall.”

“Huh.” Briefly Pounce wondered if Tumble missed him at all or if he was glad to have some space. 

He did spend a lot of his time trying to annoy Tumble as much as possible, but then again Tumble did exactly the same, so he always thought it balanced out. What if he had been wrong and Tumble really didn’t want to come back and was just using the trip with Skimble as an excuse to get away from him? The thought made him curl in on himself.

“Mind the yarn, dear.” Jenny gently tugged his arms apart.

“Sorry.” Pounce sniffed and wiped his nose on his shoulder. “Just… what if Jelly didn’t want to come back? What would you do?”

“Nonsense, she’s not going anywhere.”

“But what if?”

Jenny sighed. “I suppose I would want to go find her and talk to her, since I wouldn’t know why she would suddenly leave.”

“What if she didn’t want to come back?”

“Pounce, you’re starting to worry me with these questions. Do you or someone you know need help?”

“No.” At least he didn’t think he did. 

There was a lot he didn’t know regarding himself or Tumble at the moment. It was tiring trying to puzzle everything out, and even more tiring trying to think about what to do about it. Why did he have to like Tumble of all cats? Why couldn’t it have been a queen or someone he didn’t care about? And why did it hurt so much to try and figure out what he was going to do about it?

Absently he wiped his eyes on his other shoulder. Must be a lot of dust in the air all of a sudden. There was no other reason for his eyes to be watering.

“Jenny, where are you?” Jellylorum’s voice echoed through the front door. “You would not believe what I just saw- oh, hello Pounce, how are you?”

“Hi Jelly.” Pounce gave her a wave of his tail.

“Oh, has Jenny got you on yarn duty again?” Jelly smiled and pet the top of his head, stopping to kiss Jenny’s cheek as she passed.

“Excuse me, dearest, but you can’t just leave it at that.” Jenny pulled her in for a proper kiss.

Pounce gagged, mostly to keep up appearances. Suddenly he was wondering what he would do when he saw Tumble again and it was making him restless. Sure, he knew that he liked Tumble more than the normal amount, but would he go so far as to kiss him?

Yes. Yes he would. The thought made him blush.

“Oh, Pounce, don’t be silly.” Jelly patted his head again. “When you get to be our age-”

“Excuse me, what is all this nonsense about ‘our age’? You make it sound like we’re a pair of old queens who have no life left within them!” Jenny put down the yarn and gave Jelly her best look of outrage. It was spoiled by the fact that she still was staring at the queen with unashamed adoration in her eyes.

“Oh, you know I don’t think of us that way.” Jelly laughed. “You’ll always be the young queen who told me my tap dancing was a right mess.”

“Well it was.” Jenny picked up the yarn again. “And you needed straightening up.”

“Yes, it had nothing to do with getting me alone for some ‘private lessons’ under the moonlight.” 

Both queens burst into laughter as Pounce slid down in his seat, face burning. He was going to die of embarrassment, he just knew it. Of course he knew that the older cats were mated and did… mate stuff… but he didn’t need to know about it. He certainly didn’t need to see it.

“Dearest, I believe we’ve traumatized Pounce enough for the time being.” Jenny bit back another wave of laughter. “Would you be a love and hold this for me for a moment?”

“Yes, of course.” Jelly took the yarn and sat down in Jenny’s spot as the Gumbie Cat disappeared off into a back room. “How are you, Pounce?”

“Fine.”

“I’ve noticed that you seem to be a little misty eyed.”

“’s allergies.” 

Jelly scooted a little closer. “You know who I saw earlier?”

“Who?”

“Skimble and Tumble returning early from their trip. Tumble seemed to be a little misty eyed too.”

“He what?” The thought of Tumble being so upset that he prematurely ended a trip with Skimbleshanks was distressing. “Did he break his leg or something?”

“No, he didn’t break his leg.” Jelly assured him. “I didn’t get a chance to speak with either of them.”

“Oh.”

“But I think it’s safe to assume that Skimble will figure it out so there’s no need to worry.”

“’m not worried.” Pounce was extremely worried but if Tumble was upset about him then he couldn’t just show up and make things worse. Besides, Skimble was the cat who drove a train, he knew everything.

“Now, why don’t you tell me what’s going on in your life.” Jenny took the yarn off of his arms and placed it aside. “I think you’ve done enough yarn duty for now.”

“Nothing’s going on.” Pounce insisted. 

“There has to be something. You’re usually a very busy tom.”

“Um, since Tumble hasn’t been around I… I haven’t done much. Talked to Cettie and Plato for a bit yesterday.” He did not mention the numerous hours spent in contemplation atop the highest reaches of the junkyard. It was only a matter of time before Munkustrap found out and banished him from climbing.

“Yes, Cettie did come in here yesterday. She was very excited about having someone new to gossip about.”

“Wh… who did she talk about?” Oh, it was over, he knew he shouldn’t have said anything, he should have just thrown Plato at her and made a run for it, now she was going to figure it out and tell everyone that he had a crush on Tumble, why did he get so easily trapped into conversations, especially with Cettie who could never keep her mouth shut-

“She didn’t say.”

Bless her for her silence. Pounce let out a sigh of relief. He never doubted Cettie for a minute.

“But it sounded like the cat in question was seriously in love.”

“You… you don’t say.”

“Who’s in love?” Jenny returned with a plate of cookies. “Besides you when you find out I made your favorite cookies.”

“You spoil me.” Jelly gently placed the yarn down on her seat and gave Jenny an affectionate nuzzle. “But I was telling Pounce about when Cettie stopped by.”

“Oh, yes, I was telling him about that.” Jenny put the cookies down and gestured for Pounce to take one. “Here, I did promise you a cookie if you sat still long enough.”

“Thanks.” Prize won, he shoveled the whole thing in his mouth before Jenny could rescind her offer.

“Here, have another.” Jelly held another cookie out to him as she sat down on a large cushion.

“Fanks.” He sat down next to her. The cookies really were good, carrying a butterscotch and cinnamon flavor that only Jenny could blend together. 

“Now.” Jenny sat down on his other side, effectively pinning him between them. “We are going to have a little talk about your crush.”

“Wh- urk!” Immediately he choked. They had set up a trap and he walked right into it.

“Try not to die, dear, it wouldn’t be good for your health.” Jenny said as Jelly whacked him on the back. “And it’s perfectly healthy to have feelings for someone, as I’m sure Cettie told you with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.”

“I dunno what you’re talking about.”

“Let me tell you how Jelly and I wound up being a couple.” Jenny handed him a glass of milk as he continued to sputter. “Maybe it will help you put some things into perspective.”

“Oh, Jenny, you’re not going to tell him about… certain parts?” Jelly trailed off, voice tinged with amusement. “I’m not sure he’s ready to hear about all of our… er, wilder escapades.”

Pounce buried his face in his paws as the queens on either side of them fell into another fit of giggles. Why, why did he have to get relationship advice from his moms?

“Right. Perhaps you should tell him then.” Jenny said once she composed herself once more.

“I think I should.” Jelly agreed. “Otherwise you’re going to scar the poor boy.”

Slowly Pounce slid down in his seat, splaying his legs out onto the floor. If Old Deuteronomy could just ascend him to the Heaviside Layer right now he’d really appreciate it. Tumble would understand why he suddenly had to leave this earth.

“Of course, now that I think of it, I’m not sure when we first started officially declaring ourselves as a couple.” Jelly mused as she nibbled on a cookie. “It seems we’ve always been together.”

“Since we were young queens, that’s for certain.” Jenny said, grabbing Pounce by the shoulders and hauling him upright. “Sit up straight, slouching isn’t good for your back.”

“I think I first noticed you when you tried to stop the Jellicle Ball and lecture us on how the mice and roaches deserved to be part of the festivities. Remember that? You climbed right up there on the tire and declared that this was the year you would perform your cockroach routine.”

“I thought you had completely forgotten that. I still believe that they should be included, but Deuteronomy wasn’t having any of it. I’m surprised I didn’t get banished from the tribe for that stunt.”

“Skimble and I were trying so hard not to laugh-”

“Jellylorum, you were not laughing at me, you wouldn’t dare-”

“I couldn’t help it, you just were so passionate, you still are-”

“You would be too if you just listened to me-”

Pounce snagged another cookie as the two queens bickered over the top of him. In a roundabout way their arguing reminded him of Tumble, namely how he and Tumble mainly communicated through arguments and wrestling, and once again he felt himself missing the tom. Why couldn’t he just get a grip? Tumble wasn’t gone. In fact, according to Jelly he was back in the junkyard, so why was he feeling all this lonely stuff? And why did thinking about seeing Tumble hurt him so much? 

Why did he tell Tumble about his crush on him? That was the whole reason he was feeling awful about everything. Pounce put the cookie back, feeling oddly hollow. Suddenly he wasn’t hungry anymore. Suddenly he was very alone and very upset that his stupid feelings were yanking him all over the place without his permission. With a whimper he buried his face in his paws, trying to press all of his emotions back before they came flooding out.

“Pounce, dear, what’s the matter?” Both queens were upon him, Jenny asking him the question while Jelly rubbed his back.

“Don’t feel good.” Was all he could say.

“Feeling sick?”

“No. Feeling stupid.” He could feel the look Jenny and Jelly were exchanging with one another behind his back.

“You know, when I first started falling for Jelly, I was very confused.” Jenny said. “I didn’t know what to think. Honestly I thought I had lost my mind.”

“Glad to hear how sentimental you were back then.” Jelly said dryly.

“Shush. I knew she was special to me but couldn’t figure out why, and any time she was away from the tribe with Gus I felt so out of sorts. It was difficult to put into words. Poor Skimble and Asparagus got quite an earful when they tried to ask me what was wrong.”

“Mm.” Pounce murmured. “’s hard.”

“It is. But eventually I told her how I felt.”

“And what a night that was.” Jelly sighed. 

“You know what she said when I told her?” Jenny asked him.

“Hm?” Pounce raised his head a little.

“I said I’d think about it.” Jelly answered.

“You said what?” Now she had Pounce’s attention, for this was similar to what Tumble had said to him.

“I wasn’t sure what to think. I was involved with Asparagus at the time but he was also seeing Skimble and, well, I knew Jenny was my best friend but… it’s still so surprising when your best friend confesses that they have feelings for you.”

“And I wasn’t exactly subtle about it.” Jenny added. “I marched myself right up to her and told her how I felt.”

“I’ve always loved how direct you are.” Jelly said. “But it took some thinking on my own to finally realize that I felt the same way in return.”

“How’d you figure it out?” Pounce asked. Part of him was amazed to hear such similarities to his and Tumble’s situation. The other was wondering if there was still hope for him.

“It wasn’t easy, but I talked a lot with Skimble and Asparagus.” Jelly said. “And… well, it was a bit awkward for a while.”

“You avoided me for a whole week. Nearly broke my heart.” Jenny’s voice was gentle. “But I knew I had to give you time.”

“Then I realized how much I missed her and decided to see what happened.” Jelly sighed. “And, well… eventually we became a couple.”

“After a bit of trial and error.”

“And some long conversations.”

“And some… eventful nights.”

“Jenny!” Once again the two queens started laughing again.

Pounce rolled his eyes and reached for the abandoned cookie. Avoiding Tumble didn’t seem like the best idea, not if he was feeling this lonely after already being apart from him, but sitting down and talking about their feelings didn’t seem like a good choice either, especially if Tumble was already upset about something. He really wished that Jelly had talked to Skimble and Tumble and found out what was going on with them.

“Pounce, I know it’s awkward and uncomfortable talking about your feelings, but you really will feel better if you do.” Jelly told him.

“Yeah.” The words were all a jumble in his head and no matter how hard he tried to arrange them he couldn’t. “I know.”

Jenny sighed. “Well, whenever you’re ready to talk we are ready to listen. Cettie didn’t specifically mention that you were the cat she was excited about but it’s plain to see that you do have something on your mind.”

“Great.”

“And once you do become serious with your special someone we’ll need to sit down with you two and have ‘the talk’.” Jelly said.

Her words were colder than a bucket of ice water, the implications washing over him with a chilling promise. Jelly and Jenny’s talks of ‘safe mating practices’ were legendary among the tribe, young and old cats alike. Couples who walked in with hope and wonder in their eyes left with a hollow, dark look as the knowledge pushed all innocence from their souls.

At least that’s what Pounce heard about it. He had not yet had ‘the talk’ and had no interest in it whatsoever. The thought of sitting through such a thing with Tumble at his side made him downright nauseous.

“Well, I think I need to be going now.” Pounce slid out from between Jelly and Jenny, nearly knocking over the plate of cookies in his haste. “Thanks for all the stuff but I got a place to do. Uh, thing to be.”

“Just know you can always talk to us!” Jelly called after him.

“And wash behind your ears!” Jenny reminded him.

Pounce hightailed it out of there. Once again he had a lot of thinking to do and not all of it good. Hopefully he could figure stuff out before he and Tumble grew into old toms, although it was comforting to see that Jelly and Jenny were still happy together. A small flicker of hope sparked inside him. Maybe things could still work out.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a tiny bit of a plot happening in my brain so there will still be updates to this story, but it's mainly an excuse to write cute stuff for fun.

Another day passed. Another day without Tumble. This was getting real old real quick. What made it worse was that Tumble was around, he just wasn’t around anywhere that was conveniently accessible. Wherever Tumble was hiding he was doing an incredibly good job of staying out of sight. 

After an hour of roaming the junkyard Pounce gave up, slumping face down in the dirt and wondering if everything he had done so far had been one giant mistake. 

Why did he have to go and have big stupid complicated feelings about his friend?

Why couldn’t he keep his big fat mouth shut?

Why’d he tell Tumble he liked him? 

And why on earth did he tell Tumble he loved him?

The guy probably thought he was going to try and kiss him to death next time they saw each other, that’s probably why he was hiding. Pounce didn't blame Tumble for thinking that way. Nowadays romance kept creeping into his brain like an unwanted parasite. There was no telling what he'd do if he started feeling sappy.

Although the thought of kissing Tumble didn’t quite seem as outrageous now that he considered it. In fact the more he thought about it the more it sounded like a good idea. What would it be like? 

“Argh!” Pounce rolled around in the dirt a bit. “This is stupid!”

“I don’t think it’s entirely stupid.” A new voice observed. “I myself find that an occasional dirt bath is beneficial to the soul. Although let’s keep this sentiment between you and me, otherwise Jenny will be after me for encouraging you.” 

“Waugh!” Pounce flailed around in surprise until he could properly face whoever was intruding upon his pity party.

“Having a bit of trouble?” Skimbleshanks was watching him with an amused glint in his eye. 

“No.”

“I see.” Skimble sat down on a handy plank of wood to watch. “Then carry on, don’t stop on my account.”

Now that he had an audience Pounce felt less inclined to wallow about. It also did not escape his notice that he was talking to the one cat in the junkyard that might actually know where Tumble was. This would be an opportunity to find out, but he’d have to be subtle. Didn’t want Skimble to know that there had been some romantic confessions going on before Tumble left to go with Skimble to… wherever they were supposed to go.

“Hey, I thought you out on a trip or something.” There. That was a good place to start.

“I was.” Skimble was still giving him an amused look.

“Well why aren’t you still on it?”

“Had to cut it a bit short, I’m afraid.” 

“Oh.” All this not-elaborating was really making it hard to subtly interrogate the tom. Pounce bought himself some time to think of a new question by pretending to check himself for fleas.

“I notice you seem a bit out of sorts.” Skimble observed. “Feeling a little lost without Tumble around?”

Alarm bells started to go off in Pounce’s head. Skimble, master of trains, was trying to direct his own train of thought straight into confession station. It wasn’t going to work.

“Nah. He’s busy. ’m fine. Don’t need him around.” Just saying the words made his heart ache. “Ugh.”

“I notice that you seem to be rolling around in the dirt again.” Skimble pointed out. 

So he was. Pounce stood and shook himself. “‘s nothing. Got fleas.”

"Hmm." Skimble hummed to himself. "Seems to be going around these days."

"What, fleas?" 

Skimble ignored the question in favor of jumping off his perch and indulging himself in a deep stretch, ginger fur flashing in the sun.

"Would you like to go for a walk?” Skimble asked. “Might make you feel a little less… itchy if you stretch your legs awhile."

"I guess." Not like he had anything better to do, and it was rare to get one on one time with Skimble. 

When the cat wasn't away from the junkyard with the trains he was always swarmed by other cats and kittens anxious to hear about his travels. Of course Pounce was one of them, but more often than not he ended up watching from the sidelines, simply content to be part of the action than be the cause of it. 

Tumble joked that Skimble was the only cat in the entire world that Pounce listened to, pointing out that during Skimble's visits Pounce was the only one sitting quietly and attentively while everyone chattered and bounced around him. Sure, it may have been true, but Tumble didn't have to be so excited about it. Skimble was an interesting cat and Pounce didn't want to miss out on any cool train stories, that was all.

"So." Skimble said, ambling his way through the junkyard at a pace Pounce could easily follow. "What's been on your mind lately?"

"What do you mean?" Everyone sure was suddenly interested in what he was thinking about these days. 

"Jenny and Jelly told me you visited them. They said you were a little down about something."

"First, Jenny kidnapped me to be her yarn slave. I had no choice." Pounce huffed. "Also it's nothing. 'm fine. Dunno what they're talking about."

"I see. How long has nothing been going on?"

"Um, couple days." Since Tumble left, really, but Skimble didn't need to know that.

"And what brought that on, I wonder?"

"Wonder what brought what on?"

"All this nothing that's going on."

"Oh. Uh, dunno." Pounce shrugged. "Not much happening. Just… trying to do stuff."

"Stuff?"

"Yeah, stuff."

"Want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Very well." Surprisingly Skimble dropped the subject. "Have you been out to the fields on the outskirts of the junkyard?"

"No. Uh, I haven't actually left the junkyard much." 

"Then I will show you. Come along."

Together they walked in silence, Skimble enjoying the stroll in the sun and Pounce trying to shove aside all of the thoughts crowding his brain. When did he start thinking so much? It was getting really inconvenient having to think all the time. Normally he could just chatter at Tumble until all the words were out but now… now just thinking of talking to Tumble made him forget what it was he wanted to say.

“Dumb ideas.” Pounce muttered.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

“Hmm.” Skimble pushed aside a battered plank of wood that had been carefully leaned up against the fence, revealing a hole just large enough for a cat to fit through. 

They were at the very edge of the junkyard, far off in an area where Pounce hadn’t bothered to roam. The piles of junk here weren’t very high so he hadn’t the motivation to go climbing around. Now Skimble was ushering him through the gap in the fence and suddenly he was crossing the dirt into a large, grassy field full of flowers.

“Whoa.” There was so much green. 

A butterfly tried to land on his nose, prompting him to bat at it with his paws. Some would have called it kitten behavior but, really, how could someone not take it as a challenge? Also he was hungry and there was nothing else around to eat. Tumble gave him a hard time for eating bugs but he just hadn’t eaten the right bug, someday he would see what it was all about.

Tumble.

Pounce sat down in the grass and sullenly watched the butterfly flutter off. Suddenly he was no longer hungry.

"It has been a while since I've come this way." Skimble sat down next to him and took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the flowers. "Last time I took Asparagus here to do a bit of stargazing."

"Huh." Pounce stared up at the clouds. The sky was a lot bigger when there weren't piles of junk blocking the view. It seemed to stretch on and on forever. Maybe it did. Maybe that’s why Plato was always staring up at the sky, he was just trying to figure out how far it went.

"It's a wonderful view." Skimble continued. "The lights from the houses and buildings don't reach this far, so at night it's just the moon and the stars illuminating the sky."

"That's nice." It really was. Already he was itching to come back when it was dark. Hopefully there would be fireflies too.

"And the flowers are quite lovely this time of year. Very aromatic."

"I guess." He wasn't much one for flowers (unless they were edible) but the colors were interesting enough. And it smelled a lot better than some of the dingier parts of the junkyard.

"Not a lot of cats come out here so you have plenty of privacy to think. It's a great spot for figuring out the mysteries of life. Or just for daydreaming."

"Mmm." He could already imagine what Tumble would say if he saw this place. Plenty of room to practice his acrobatic stuff, and they could really wrestle without having to worry about knocking over a pile of junk. The mental image of Tumble cartwheeling through the fields was a pleasant one. Tumble could do some of his crazy flips, Pounce could chase bugs, then they could collapse in a pile together and bask in the sun. 

"Also an ideal place to bring someone special.” Skimble said. “Very romantic."

"Yeah." Pounce sighed happily, then froze. "Wait, no-"

"It's alright, Pounce." Skimble assured him. "You don't need to be embarrassed."

"I'm not." Pounce met the tom's questioning gaze. "Okay I am. I’m not a sappy person, I’m just… I got brainwashed by Etcetera or something. She’s always going on about that stuff and I just sank into my brain."

"You know, you remind me of someone." Skimble said as he made himself comfortable in the grass. "Of course, he was stubborn as hell and didn't want anyone to know he was struggling with his feelings. Thought it was better to just try and carry on as normal and deny everything when asked if he was alright. Nearly drove him mad."

"Who?" Pounce couldn't imagine anyone that was that specifically similar to himself. "Who are you talking about?"

"Me." Skimble winked at him. "You remind me of myself when I was a young lad."

"I do?" 

"Yes. When I was your age I too had my eye on someone. I spent an eternity trying to figure out what to do, wondering if I was doing something wrong, always second guessing myself.” Skimble said. “I thought Jenny was going to murder me when I kept telling her that I was fine and nothing was going on. She always was an astute individual."

"Did you tell her you liked her?"

"Oh, at the time it wasn't Jenny I had set my eye on, that would come later."

"Well who was it?"

"It was Asparagus." Skimble sighed. 

“Asparagus?” Pounce scrunched up his nose in disbelief. The mental image of the master of the railway train pining after anyone wasn’t fitting in his brain. “Why?”

“I have always cherished him as a friend, and then one day I realized that I cherished him a little more deeply than that. Once I figured out what was happening and did something about it I stopped fretting so much.” Skimble gave him a sympathetic smile. “I could spend the rest of the afternoon telling you why I love him so, but I have the feeling you would rather talk about someone else.”

Pounce cringed, trying not to gag. “No, I mean, I’m glad you like him, I just… it’s a lot of romance to take in.”

Skimble laughed. “Tell me, Pounce, have you ever been in love?”

“No. Er, well, I dunno.”

“Is it safe to assume that you do have your eye on someone?”

“I don’t want others to know.” Although it seemed that everyone he had talked to lately knew about it. Maybe now was time to just admit it.

“I promise not to tell. And I promise not to pry if you’d rather not-”

“ItoldTumbleIlovedhimandnowhethinksIwannakisshimbutIdon’tbutkindadobutIjustmisshimandwanttoseehim.” The dam had broke, the words rushing out in a nonstop stream of unfiltered dialog. “ButIthinkhehatesmenowandishidingfrommeandIcan’tfindhimand- and- and-”

“Hold on, Pounce, take a moment to breathe.” Skimble said, alarmed. “Not all at once.”

Pounce hyperventilated a bit, inhaled a bug, choked, then flopped on the grass to collect himself. He had officially arrived into confession station, full stop, and there was no telling who was the conductor of the crazy train, but he knew he wanted off.

“I was dumb enough to tell Tumble I loved him. I didn’t even say liked, Skimble, I said love.” Pounce groaned. “It was gross but I liked saying it.”

“That was a very bold thing to do.” 

“It was dumb, because now Tumble’s gonna think I want to kiss him all the time or worse, try to romance him or something.”

“Do you?”

“Huh?”

“Do you want to do those things?”

“Um.” Suddenly it was very important to stare at the sky and not look at Skimble. The cat was far too knowing. “Kinda. But I just started thinking about it. ‘s not like I just lay around dreaming about kissing Tumble or touching his butt or whatever. ‘m not gonna bring him a bunch of flowers and try and, ugh, romance him.”

Skimble laughed. “I promise I won’t tell anyone that you might be thinking of trying to ‘romance’ Tumble. And I don’t think Tumble’s thinking that either.”

“How do you know?”

“Tumble was with me on the trip, remember? We had plenty of time to discuss some very important things.”

“What kind of things?” Pounce sat up, flicking grass off of his ears. “Skimble, what’d he say? Did he say stuff about me? Did he tell you what I said?”

“Hold on, one question at a time.” Skimble held up a paw. “Just as I promised not to speak of your thoughts I promised Tumble I wouldn’t talk about his.”

“That’s not fair, I need to know.”

“You do, but not from me. You need to talk to Tumble.”

“Ugh.” Once more Pounce flopped onto the grass. “How’d I know you were gonna say that?”

“Because you’re a smart lad.” Skimble patted him on the head.

“Don’t feel smart.”

“Try not to overthink it. Just do what you think is best.” None too subtly the tom wiped his paw in the grass. “Perhaps you should clean yourself up just a bit before you go talking to him though.”

“You said dirt baths were good for the soul or something.”

“I said an occasional one was beneficial.” Skimble patted his back hard enough to send dust clouds into the air. “You have gone far beyond occasional.”

“Fine, I’ll bathe and stuff. And then… then I’ll talk to Tumble.” Pounce coughed. “Do you know where I can find him?”

*****

So it turned out that Tumble had been closer than he thought. The tom was hiding in Skimble’s den the whole time, making himself at home and lounging around while Pounce was trying to find him, what a turd. Well, Pounce was done with pining. He was going to march on over there and… and….

And what?

Pounce fidgeted outside of Skimble’s den as all the possibilities raced through his brain. Maybe Skimble was right, he was overthinking it. Better to just jump in and figure it out as he went.

“Hey, Tumble?” Pounce called, edging his way into the dark den. “You alive in there?”

“Hey, Pounce.” Tumble replied. He was curled up under a blanket with just his ears poking out. 

"Um, you feeling okay?" Slowly Pounce edged closer. Subdued Tumble was not a Tumble he was used to.

"I'm fine."

"Oh. Um. Do you… do you want to hang out?"

"I dunno. I'm not feeling so good."

“Oh.” This was not how things were supposed to go. Tumble was at least supposed to keep up his end of the conversation. Pounce floundered a bit before settling on the first topic that came to mind. “How was your trip?”

“Fine.” Tumble curled up tighter under the blanket.

“Er, you didn’t miss a lot while you were gone.” Pounce tried his best to keep the conversation going. “Although Skimble showed me a cool place outside the junkyard today.”

“You talked with Skimble?” Tumble’s head shot up so fast the blanket flew off of him. “What did he say?”

“He said that not a lot of cats go out to this place, dunno why, but he thought I’d like it. And I did. So, um, I wanna show you.” Pounce kicked at the edge of the blanket. “Also I guess he had a thing for Asparagus. I didn’t ask him because, well, ‘s gross.”

“Asparagus?” Tumble was staring at him now. “What does that have to do with the place Skimble showed you?”

“Dunno. It just came up. But this place is really cool. Lots of space to run around. Lots of bugs.”

“Bet you already ate some.” Tumble snorted.

“Hey, I only ate one and that was an accident.” This wasn’t fair, Tumble wasn’t allowed to slander him if he wasn’t feeling good. 

“Yeah, sure.” Tumble sighed and stretched. “Fine. I’ll come see this place with the bugs. But can we go later? I got some stuff I want to do.”

“Uh, sure.” Pounce moved out of the way. “Tonight?”

“Sounds good.” Without so much as a backwards glance Tumble left the den, leaving Pounce alone once more.

“Uh, bye, I guess.” Here came the melancholy feelings again. At least Tumble was going to meet with him later, maybe he really did have stuff to do. Important stuff. Stuff more important than his friend sitting right in front of him trying to have a decent conversation.

Somehow Pounce had a hard time believing himself, and this was certainly one of those times. With a small sigh he set off to go find a good patch of dirt to roll around in. Might as well try to soothe his soul or whatever Skimble called it. He had a feeling that his meeting with Tumble later that night was going to be a tough one and he needed all the soothing he could get.

**Author's Note:**

> So for now I'll leave this as it is, but I might expand on it in the future, who knows.


End file.
